Lakeland negotiators agree to mirror new sick-leave policy in negotiated agreement to protect staff

Chair (S1) and LEA negotiators spent the bulk of the meeting discussing whether to move the detailed sick-leave bank provisions out of the negotiated agreement and into a separate district policy. Committee member (S11) said the board approved a standalone sick-leave bank policy the prior night and that the working draft for 2627 had copied the bank language into a new policy page.

"The Sick Leave Bank was just simply copied out of the negotiated agreement and pasted on its own little policy page," Committee member (S11) said, noting HR had replaced "certificated" with "benefited" employees to account for both classified and certificated staff. Chair (S1) and several negotiators expressed concern that removing the bank from the negotiated agreement without protective language could weaken the LEA's input and future protections for employees.

Committee members debated whether the district should maintain one bank or two separate banks for classified and certificated employees. Committee member (S2) explained the operational difference: classified staff accrue sick leave by hours while certificated staff accrue days. "We have two distinct buckets," S2 said, arguing the policy must make eligibility and administration clear.

Participants identified policy numbers and cross-references they want in the negotiated agreement to prevent divergent documents: personal sick leave is governed by policy 5405 and the sick-leave bank by policy 5406. The group agreed staff should draft caveat language for the negotiated agreement that requires policy changes to be submitted during interest-based bargaining so the LEA has the ability to recommend modifications.

Multiple negotiators requested legal review to confirm how Idaho statute (cited during discussion as 33-12-16 and related sections) interacts with the grievance process and the board's authority over denied sick-bank requests. Chair (S1) said the regular grievance process may apply but urged counsel verification.

Next steps: staff will draft language to mirror the negotiated agreement and the separate policy, circulate it to negotiators for review, and seek counsel clarification on statutory and grievance procedures before finalizing changes.